


Help Spin My Web, it's Unraveling!

by Selene467



Series: The Avenging Spider [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: After TAS, Angst, Avengers Family, Gen, Hurt Peter, Hurt Peter Parker, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Joins the Avengers, Trauma, Venom attack, probably out of character everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-08
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-15 09:00:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12317859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selene467/pseuds/Selene467
Summary: Peter has been part of the Avengers for several months slowly becoming part of the strange family when a nightmarish encounter shakes his entire world. Avengers to the rescue!





	Help Spin My Web, it's Unraveling!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever Marvel related fanfiction so I apologise if it's terrible but I needed to try it despite my own doubts as I've got the Marvel bug and it's taking over my life, even my fanfiction.
> 
> Minor warning for violence and overall creepy/invasive feelings due to Venom. He won't actually make an appearance but Peter will have nightmares/flashbacks of the attack and although they aren't specific or graphic they might still be triggery for some people, so please proceed with caution as I've no idea what might be a trigger for someone.
> 
> Also this turned out waaay longer than intended. What was planned to be a short one-shot kept growing every time I worked on it, spewing out scenes I never considered and basically it took a life of its own. It took me a month to finish when I had only intended to work on this a few days. Crazy muse I guess. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

                                                                                                                                    

 

  _Peter had suffered losses, experienced more than his share of pain, shed more of his own blood than he ever thought he would and shouldered more guilt than he ever thought he could carry._

_And that was when he was alone._

_Now he had a whole range of superheroes standing behind him, ready to fight beside him, eager to train him, willing to guide him and prepared to take a hit for him._

_Peter wasn't alone, not anymore._

_The Avengers were his family now and they vowed to make sure Peter would never have to fear being alone again._

_And yet, alone, Peter found himself, facing an enemy that was the stuff of nightmares and with no one to back him up._

* * *

  
"Feet off my table, Barton!" Tony snapped as he passed the man on his way to the kitchen. He'd been engrossed in his work down in the lab and was positively starving. If it wasn't for Bruce coming back for some papers he left, Tony would probably still be down there. 

"I live here too, Stark." Clint quipped back never taking his eyes off the tv. 

Tony walked over half a sandwich in his mouth and kicked Clint's feet clean off the table. 

"My money, my tower, my rules." As if to punctuate his reasoning he took another big bite before stomping off again in search of something to drink. 

Bruce and Steve chose that moment to make their appearance, Bruce's face engrossed in the papers he was carrying. He absentmindedly sat down on one of the barstools of the kitchen island. Steve noticed Tony rummaging through the fridge.

"Finally decided to come eat something."

Tony gave him an exasperated look before continuing his raiding of the fridge. Steve looked around the room feeling like something was off. Natasha was down in the gym for some late night practice and Thor was away on Asgardian business. But there was one more person missing, someone young and normally bouncing around the room in endless chatter about new ideas he had or joking with Clint or even just studying. Peter rarely kept to himself unless he was troubled by something. Steve hoped the kid wasn't having one of those days, where he'd drown himself in his unjusted guilt over the people he couldn't save.

"Has anyone seen Peter?"

It was a simple question and yet it had all occupants in the room tensing and looking up in alarm. Clint sat up straighter removing his feet from the table -he'd promptly put them back up after Tony walked away. Bruce forgot all about his research papers and was looking concerned around the room. Tony stood frozen with one hand on the door of the fridge the light from inside shining an almost haunting glow to one side of him. 

"I thought he was down in the lab with you two geniuses?" 

Bruce and Tony looked from Clint to each other worry gnawing on their insides, their brows furrowed in confusion. Bruce turned back to Steve as he recalled Peter's activities for the day.

"I thought he was on patrol?" 

The fridge door slammed shut with a bang drawing all eyes to Tony who looked downright ill as realization struck him.

"That was three hours ago! His patrol ended three hours ago! How did no one notice?!"

Clint immediately jumped up in defence almost snarling at Tony to hide the fear bubbling inside him. 

"Don't put this all on us! You didn't notice anything for the last  _five_ hours! All alone buried in your tech!"

"Stop!" Steve stepped in front of Clint stopping his advance and effectively cutting him off from Tony who had stalked around the counters as if to lunge for his comrade. 

"Let's stay calm and rational. Maybe Peter snuck past all of us, he's known to do so before. Let's make sure where he is before we blame each other."

Tony stared daggers at Clint for a few more seconds before Steve's calm seemed to rub off on him enough to get him to back down. He turned his back on them as he adressed Jarvis for an update on Peter.

"Mr. Parker has not entered the building since he left it at 0800 hours this morning."

Silence reigned as all four men stared at each other as they realized Peter had missed his curfew by three hours after going on patrol and had made no attempts that they knew of to contact them. Something had to have happened to keep him from coming home on time and it was bad enough that he couldn't let them know. 

"Jar...Jarvis can you track Peter's phone now."

"Of course sir. Tracking now....There is an incoming call from Mr. Parker's phone, sir."

Tony's head snapped up so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. Finally!

"Put him through now!"

Tony barely noticed Natasha slinking into the room, worry on her face as she immediately grasped the seriousness of the situation as she took in the shaken Avengers. 

"Peter? Peter are you alright?!"

There was no answer at first, agonizing seconds ticking by as they all crowded around the phone. A sudden half-aborted sobb rang clearly through the speaker flooding Tony with a fear he never felt before, even before his kidnapping or temporary death during the battle of New York. Peter Parker, the teenage superhero who had gotten under Tony Stark's skin. Who knew he was the parental figure of the Avengers.

"Peter!"

Urgent, fearful, demanding.  _Please say something, please tell me you are alright, please be alright!_

"Jarvis track his phone, now!"

The Avengers were already on the move, Tony holding tight to the phone never breaking off the call. 

"We're coming, Peter." 

* * *

Hawkeye, _-or Clint as he insisted Peter to call him; "You're an Avenger now, kid, better get used to being part of the team"-_ was for all his seriousness, a prankster at heart. In the few months that Peter had been around the Avengers he'd seen countless of pranks directed at nearly every Avenger at least once, the only exception being Black Widow who Peter was fairly certain, _no one_ dared to cross.  
  
As it were, Peter wasn't exempt from pranks either and seemed to be the recipricant more so than anyone else. He guessed it was their way _-or at least Clint's way-_ of team building. Peter had been more than pissed when his phone exploded with an ungodly sound one day -turns out it actually was technically a godly sound as it was the noise of Thor's hammer slamming into Captain America's shield.

Had Peter known back then, that this particular prank would end up saving his life, he might have been more forgiving to the archer at the time.

Shaking hands released their grip around his knees, one reaching unsteadily around his back where he kept his phone securely under his suit while the other fumbled with his mask pulling it off entirely. Despite being able to breathe just fine with the mask on, Peter gasped for air as soon as the mask came off, his mind not capable of rational thought at the moment.

Forcing his breathing under control, Peter focussed on the phone in his hand as he tried to remember what he was doing. Everything had happened so fast, he could for the life of him not figure out how long he'd sat here in the darkness, his back against a concrete wall.

His body shuddered violently as it kept doing every few minutes causing him to nearly drop the phone. He gripped it more tightly, rubbing the back of his other hand across his face to remove the moist that blurred his vision while clamping down as hard as possible on his raging emotions. He could not fall apart, _not now_.

It took several tries but eventually he managed to make the call. He didn't need to wait for very long before a familiar voice answered.

"Peter? Peter are you alright?!"

Tony's voice was filled with concern and bordering on panicked and it made Peter's heart constrict painfully, cutting off the air in his lungs as more tears welled up in his eyes. It became apparent that Tony had put him on speaker when muffled voices could be heard in the background. The Avengers, all of them, gathered together to wait for news of _him_. Concerned because he was late and willing to hang around in case he needed help.

_His family._

Peter choked on a sob that he tried desperately to keep down, shaking his head to clear the nightmarish images from forming, trying instead to focus on the Avengers, his family in his mind.

"Peter!"

The call was more urgent now yet Peter didn't have the mental capacity to answer them right now. In his mind's eye he saw the thing slither towards him, felt the sickly squash as it attached to any part of his body it could reach. He was cold, _so cold_ and so afraid.

His hand shook violently dropping the phone and Peter made no attempt to pick it back up. The voices of his new family no longer audible to his own ears. He pulled his knees up even further to his chest, his arms tightening around them almost painfully and lowered his face into his knees. His body shook and his breathing turned ragged. Peter never heard the reassuring "We're coming, Peter."

* * *

Cold wind bit into his exposed neck sending shivers throughout his body. The excessive heat he had build up during his panicked fight was rapidly decreasing leaving his sweat covered body more vulnerable to the sudden drop in the temperature outside. Peter’s body gave a violent shock as a sign of how badly his body was taking the circumstances. Peter just curled up tighter ignoring his every instinct that was warning him of the danger he found himself currently in. Too much was going on and he couldn’t deal.

He didn’t care whether he’d freeze to death or get fatally ill. Right now nothing else mattered except to forget.

His moment of solitude was broken abruptly by a touch on his shoulder. Peter yelled in fright as he pulled away and scrambled backwards, his horrified gaze locked on the gruesome vision of the black monster twisting and turning in unnatural ways making odd squelching sounds as it moved.

It had come back.

Peter’s sight spun as his dizziness overcame him. He closed his eyes for only a few seconds and when he opened them the creature was right beside him one of its gooey limbs stretching towards him.

_“Peter Parker.”_

Peter’s breath caught as he heard that terrible, raspy whisper again. It had spoken to him when it fully enveloped him. Whispering his name, spilling his secrets and fears, absorbing everything that made Peter who he was.

Peter broke out in a cold sweat as he backed himself against a wall as far away from the thing as possible. He couldn’t think clearly as the fear clouded everything. All he knew was fear and his instincts urging him to run run run……!

So he did exactly that. Without sparing a single thought Peter allowed his body to move on his own. He scrambled backwards up the wall far out of its reach.

Breathing was becoming quite the chore and black spots clouded his vision. Peter shook his head to try and clear it but when he opened his eyes again the thing was right next to him again clinging to the same wall like some nightmarish glue.

_“Peter….Peter….”_

The memory of being “swallowed” by this monster had Peter lose control of his body and abilities. He dropped haphazardly back to the ground followed by a sickening almost liquid sound indicating his foe had followed him again. It touched his leg and that horrible sense washed over him again, that strange coldness and sudden awareness of the very thing attaching itself to him.

Venom. That is what it whispered to him. It’s name or designation. It was oddly fitting since it almost felt like a poison surging through his body wherever it connected with him.

Peter tried to pull free but its grip was stronger this time. Venom would not dislodge and a strong feeling of terror tore through him.

_Not again. Please not again!_

Peter struggled and pulled but Venom would not release him. Tears sprang free from his eyes as he whimpered in fear and defeat.

“Please stop! Don’t! Let me go!”

Kicking out with his other leg broke Venom’s hold long enough for Peter to scramble away again. Venom immediately followed after him like a never ending nightmare. Peter’s body was heavy with fatigue and his muscles screamed from the abuse he had suffered.

He couldn’t escape Venom. His web shooters had been broken from the first attack and in his current state he couldn’t outrun it.

“Someone help me! Please! Tony!”

It was a fruitless effort. Not only was he in an abandoned docking bay but the Avengers were nowhere near let alone Tony. Yet he couldn’t help himself. He trusted Tony and felt most comfortable around the eccentric and rude, genius engineer.

His mind snapped back to reality when Venom tackled him to the ground. Peter gave it his all and surprisingly managed to get free. He didn’t waste this chance and jumped back to the nearest wall quickly crawling as high as possible.

This time though, Venom did not follow. It remained on the ground staring up at him as if it were waiting for something. This time when it whispered his name it didn’t sound like all the times before but rather deep yet smooth and far away like a distant echo of someone shouting over a long distance. Unbidden it triggered a memory of better times, happier times when he felt safe if a little out of place.

_"Come on in, I could use an extra hand." Tony cleared part of the table with a few sweeps of his hand, motioning Peter closer. Not wanting to remain awkwardly standing in the doorway, Peter stepped up next to the man. He'd been living in the tower for a month now, yet it still felt like he was a stranger sometimes, despite how welcoming the Avengers were being. Of course for the most part of that month he'd been grieving his aunt May._

_"Alright, pay attention. This is what I'm struggling with here and you're going to help me fix this, cause I've seen what you can do with a little bit of tech." The rest of that day was spent working out the kinks of some of Tony's new additions to his armor and Peter finally feeling like maybe he could fit in here, with time._

Peter shook his head to clear the memory and looked back down at Venom, or was it? Why would Venom trigger a memory of Tony, and why that partiular one? So focussed on figuring it out, Peter never noticed how his breathing slowed down and his shaking stopped. Fatigue slowly slipped over him as he stared down, down, down....

_"Peter!"_

He barely heard the call as his mind fogged over and he belatedly realised he was falling. It shouldn't worry anyone though, it wasn't that high up. It probably wouldn't even bruise him. Someone was beside him suddenly, gently taking hold of his body and whispering soothing words to him.

_"You're okay, Peter. You're safe now. I've got you, kid."_

Tony. He was here. They all were, Peter now realised as his memory cleared. He'd thought it was Venom, but it was his family. They'd come for him. With that happy knowledge, Peter allowed himself to slip into the beckoning darkness.

* * *

The silence of the room was only broken by the occassional beep from the equipment by which Bruce kept track of Peter's heartrate, his breathing and his brain waves. So far he was in a deep slumber for which Bruce was thankful. Peter had taken quite the beating out there. No wonder the kid passed out as soon as he realised he was safe. An adrenaline crash was bad enough for regular humans, but for superhumans it was so much worse. Being able to keep that high of adrenaline going for much longer than the average human and push it even higher too, the following crash would definitely knock them out for a long while. He'd explained as much to Tony when he checked in on the kid a little while ago and expressed his surprise that Peter was still out of it. 

"You should took a break."

Bruce didn't act surprised, having heard the captain's heavy steps just outside the room. He turned around to greet him though, putting down the clipboard upon which were written Peter's injuries. 

"I'm alright. I've gone on far less sleep before."

Steve walked over to the bed sparing a few seconds to stare at the sleeping teen, before locking that piercing gaze on Bruce.

"That doesn't mean you  _have_ to."

Bruce allowed the tiniest of smalls to grace his face at the checkmate attempt, but he didn't go down that easily. Many of the Avengers hated to be on the Captain's disapproving or stern gaze, Bruce often found it amusing. He turned around to desk where he'd put his water not in the slightest affected by Steve's following gaze. He took his sweet time to take a sip before turning back to his fellow Avenger and meeting his eyes head-on. 

"You're right. I don't  _have_ to, but in this case," Bruce glanced at a still unconscious Peter, "...in this case I  _want_ to. Peter needs someone around he trusts when he wakes up and who can deal with whatever state of mind he is in when he does."

Steve understood immediately what he meant. Though Peter trusted the Avengers, maybe even got so far as to consider them his  _family_ now, but he still  _pulled away_ more than he let anyone in. Among the Avengers he trusted Bruce and Tony of all people, the most, but even them he kept at a distance. And then there was the absolute panicked and terrified state they'd found him in. Passing out after that, chances were high he would not wake up gently and that caused for another concern Steve realised.

"If he does wake up,  _badly,_ even if he trusts you more than any other...is it wise for  _you_ to be present? If he gets in a few good hits, can you with certainty assure us to keep it together?"

Bruce had expected the question, had wondered about it himself. He'd gained a lot more control as when he'd just been turned and though he could calm himself down enough after some minor disputes and a couple of hits, Peter was not just anyone. If Peter attacked him, especially when not in a right state of mind, he was sure it would be with his full power and taking such a hit might not sit well with the Big Guy, despite Peter being one of them. Still, despite the risk Bruce wanted to be there for Peter. If he hadn't seen the kid out there, he could have easily deduced it from his diagnostics on him. Whatever had happened to him not only seriously hurt him, but it had for lack of a better description,  _freaked him the hell out_. The amounts of terror he had to go through to produce these levels in his brain and cause such severe exhaustion to knock out a superhuman-due-to-radioactive-spider-bite.... Peter was no coward, far form it, but that poor kid had experienced something like never before. 

"It's a risk I'm willing to take and I've already cleared it with Tony.  _If_ something were to happen, JARVIS is on stand by for any complications. If need be Tony has offered to through me from the tower to keep Peter safe."

Steve didn't argue any further. Tony didn't take things lightly when they concerned the Avengers, especially young Peter. It was almost sweet how fatherly he acted with the kid. This didn't mean he liked their odds, but he accepted it. Crossing his arms over his chest, he watched the sleeping Avenger as Bruce picked up the clipboard again and check the kid's vitals.

"Let's just hope nothing goes wrong."

* * *

As it were, things did not go well. Peter awoke in a frenzy, thrashing about and releasing screams of agony as if he were reliving the attacks that caused his injuries. Despite the risks, Bruce jumped right into the chaos trying to get through to Peter and ground him in reality, but the kid was strong and fast despite his injured and panicked state. A few good hits later and Steve was trying his hardest to shout through the chaos of Peter's mind while at the same time trying to be soothing towards a clearly agitated Dr. Banner.

JARVIS informed him of the remaining Avengers being on their way, but Steve had to wonder if adding more people to this dangerous mixture of panic and anger was a good idea. Unfortunately he had no time to hypothesize right now, so decided to focus on the more pressing threat, that being Dr. Banner. If the Hulk came out now, right here, that would end up in a lot more damage and danger than Peter posed at the moment.

The teenager was scared and clearly reliving the attack he had suffered, but he was not attacking anyone unless thay came too close. He was backing away, trying to escape. As long as he didn't get too far, preferably not out of the room or at the very least this floor, he could wait until Bruce was taken care of.

With that decision made, Steve dashed across the room towards Bruce, leaving a frantic teenage Avenger fighting a phantom by himself and didn't that make Steve hate himself just a little bit. Focusing on the rattled scientist, Peter's shouts and pleads for help became background noise. Steve scarcely dared to imagine what Peter was seeing, what he had seen, and seemed unable to erase from his young mind.

* * *

_Two Days Later_

Bruce was cleaning up his part of the workplace he shared with Tony when said person walked in. Tony gave him half a nod before beelining it straight for his cluttered table, more cluttered than normal. He was clearly working on something.

"You doing alright there, doctor?"

Tony did not look up from whatever project he was working on so he missed the confused look Bruce sent him. After the silence dragged on for a moment too long, Tony did look up and motioned with his hand towards Bruce's face. Ah, now Bruce understood as he gently touched the still sore but healing bruise on the side of his face, courtesy of one Peter Parker.

"Yes, it's alright. I almost forgot about it."

"I don't think I've ever really seen you hurt before, even something as simple as a bruise. Guess you're lucky the kid even holds his punches in fear."

That was certainly true. Had Peter used all his power he could have easily caused some serious brain damage or even killed him. Of course the Big Guy would have saved him if that had happened.

"Well to be fair, every time you've seen me attacked or injured the Big guy showed up moments later and when he shows up any injuries quickly disappear. We're lucky he didn't though."

Tony stopped his tinkering for a moment as he looked at his fellow genius in curiosity. "Why is that I wonder?"

"Why could I keep him under control? I guess the Big Guy still considers Peter a child, despite being at the cusp of adulthood and he doesn't hurt children."

It was a simple rule the Big guy followed, but Bruce had never been more happy that his alternate self had some semblance of a morality. Sounds of Tony tinkering continued once more, this time making Bruce curious. After all, since the near disastrous incident in medical, Tony had rarely been seen outside this lab.

"What are you working on?"

"Just something I thought of for the kid." Tony trailed of and Bruce thought it better not to push.

"Speaking of Peter, have you been to see him yet?"

"Kid's locked himself in his room and refuses to let anyone in. I tried once with no success."

"It's been two days, Tony. If anyone can convince him to come out it would be you. Maybe you should try again."

Tony put down one of the tools he was using with more force than might have been neccessary before turning almost stormy eyes on Bruce. It was clear to see besides his irritation, there was a lot of concern. He wasn't ignoring Peter or had given up. He was giving the kid space.

"I know a little thing about trauma, unfortunately. Peter went through something terrible and he doesn't want to talk about it. He needs peace and quiet, he needs space. Trust me when I say, he'll come out when he's ready. I'm not going to let him suffer unneccessarily. No one can make him talk. If it goes on for too long, I am however willing to break into his room. That is something I can do, but I'd rather he comes out when he's ready."

Tony stared at him for a moment longer as if daring him to challenge his decision. When Bruce clearly had no answer, Tony ignored him and went back to his project. Bruce watched silently as his thoughts kept drifting to Peter, the memory of the kids' haunted look upon seeing the damage he had caused to his fellow avenger, not leaving him alone.

* * *

Peter sat with his back to the wall on the floor, knees drawn up to his chest. He tried not to think about when he sat here like this before, after uncle Ben had died. He had enough to deal with in his head as it were. For two days now he had hidden away in his room despite not officially being cleared from medical. After hurting Dr. Banner though, Peter had no intentions of getting near anyone else. Despite distancing himself from those who had rapidly become his family, Peter hoped they would forgive him and not kick him out after all this. He didn't want to be alone again.

_"Let me help you, Peter Parker."_

Peter jumped up abruptly pacing his room as he tried to get rid of the memories surfacing in his mind. Why couldn't he just get over this?! Why was he still so haunted by that, that, that thing. By Venom.

_"We can help each other. Make you strong, protect you against any who stand in your way. Let us kill them all, together."_

Peter grabbed the nearest object he could get his hands on and just threw it into the wall. He didn't bother looking at the shattered pieces, turning away and seeking refuge on his bed taking up the same position as before. He tried to slow down his breathing, closing his eyes and lowering his head on his knees. He was safe now, and at home if he could still call it home. Everything was fine.

That's when his spider-sense flared to life for a brief moment and the ventilation cover in his ceiling promptly broke free and dropped with a heavy clang on the floor. Peter's reflexes kcicked in and he found himself sticking to the ceiling as he watched a very familiar black-suited avenger drop elegantly from the ventilation shaft, landing in a graceful crouch in the middle of his room. With a reliefed sigh, Peter landed back on his bed giving Natasha a look that should convey all his frustration at her entrance. She simply gave back that small smile of hers that made people confused about whether to smile back or run the other way.

"Clint isn't the only one to use the ventilation. Who do you think showed him the best paths to take?"

"Why are you here?"

"Because you need to stop hiding and the other fools in this tower don't have the guts to do anything about it."

Peter sat down on his bed heavily, rubbing a hand through his hair in clear sign of frustration. Natasha had straightened out of her crouch and was now standing in front of him with that piercing, knowing gaze of hers.

"Since when do you have something against hiding? Isn't that what you do as a spy, hide and wait for the best opportunity to strike?"

"I use that skill as a tool for my job. _You_ on the other hand, don't need to hide. It's not your style, kid. You're always out in the open, drawing attention to yourself so the enemy doesn't look to anyone innocent."

"I wear a mask to hide my identity. So I can keep doing _my_ job."

"That's a different kind of hiding. Very different from what you are doing right now. You're not _just_ hiding Peter Parker in this room. You're hiding Spider Man too."

Peter looked away refusing to acknowledge the truth of her words. Natasha knew it too, she always did. She'd been taught a lot of different skills, including how to read people and she was damn good at it. Peter loved that about her, when she wasn't using it on him.

"The city is starting to wonder where you've gone. Those are _your_ people, Peter. The people you save every day, who have grown to love you for the hero you are, brave, kind and unafraid to fight."

"But I _am_ afraid!"

The smug look on Natasha's face aborted any further outbursts from Peter, instead sending a feeling of unease into his gut. For some reason he suddenly felt like the _fly_ in the web rather than the _spider_ he so vibrantly represented as Spider Man.

"Now we are getting something."

Natasha pulled the desk chair out into the middle of the room and made herself comfortable sitting on it backwards, head leaning on her arms as she crossed them over the backrest.

"Tell me, Peter. What are you afraid of?"

"Are you kidding me? Like you don't know!"

"I _don't_ know. In fact none of us do since you refuse to talk about what happened to you. All we know is that something or someone happened and it left you broken, bruised, concussed and emotionally scarred. So you tell me."

"That's it, isn't it? This is all a ploy to get me to talk about what happened."

"No one in this tower is out to get you, Peter. We're not your enemies, _I_ am not your enemy. I just want to help you."

"Why?"

Natasha drew back for a moment as if she was suddenly uncomfortable and it made Peter nervous. He also knew she only showed her hand so easily was because she chose to let down her walls, at least a little, around the avengers, her team, her family.

"Because I know fear and how crippling it can be."

"When have _you_ ever been afraid of anything?"

"There have been three times since becoming the Black Widow, that I was truly afraid. Once was when Clint tracked me down and opted to spare me rather than kill me. It's how I joined SHIELD. Another time was when Dr. Banner transformed on the helicarrier and targeted me. The third time was when I heard you were in trouble two days ago."

"Me?"

"You see, Peter, for someone like _me_ there is very little that truly matters to me. I've been raised and trained to be a spy and an assassin. To be unclouded by emotions and single-mindedly focused on my target, my mission. But that has changed since I became an agent of SHIELD and an Avenger after that. I'm no longer that person and I have people that matter to me now. First Clint, then the Avengers and now you. I've never really had a family, none that I can remember at least, but I have one _now_. And family stands up for each other, supports each other and occassionally kicks our backsides when we're acting out."

Peter couldn't resist a tiny smile at that, remembering quite well all the times Natasha had taken Clint down a notch, sometimes just to get a reaction out of him.

"It's alright to be afraid, Peter."

"Is it? I'm not so sure about that."

"Let me ask you this then; Will it stop you from going back out there, eventually?"

Peter knew the answer to that easily, he just hadn't dared ask himself that very question. Perhaps he did need this push from his fellow avenger.

"No, it won't. It is right now, but...no."

"Why then does it matter that you are afraid?"

"...."

"Tell me why it matters, Peters."

"Because I'm supposed to be a  _hero_. Like you said; a brave, kind and unafraid hero."

"Even heroes get scared. Do you think of me as one?"

"Of course!"

"Even though I just admitted to being afraid on occassion?"

Peter sat there with his mouth open unable to form a response to that. Natasha had backed him into a corner of his own making. He huffed in fake annoyance, another smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. She was right, he realised. There was nothing wrong with being afraid and it wasn't going to stop him either. He was just taking a little longer than intended to gather his courage. He knew he couldn't abandon this city and its people, despite _it_ still being out there, possibly. But something was still nagging at him and now that he was being honest, he might as well go all the way.

"So...you guys....none of you are, disappointed in me? For, you know, for messing up so spectaculary?"

"The only way you could disappoint any of us, is if you pretended to be fine when you clearly aren't." 

This time both of their smiles were genuine and conveyed everything they needed. Natasha straightened out of the chair, gently rolling it back under the desk before stretching her limbs.

"Right, my job here is done. Do you mind if I use the door this time?"

"Go right ahead." Just before she opened the door though, his voice stopped her. "And Natasha, thank you."

"You're welcome, kid."

She then opened the door to reveal a very confused Steve Rogers who seemed just about to knock on Peter's door. She moved past him without a word leaving Peter to explain why there was a ventilation cover on his floor. Peter chose not to bother right now and walked up the his doorway standing before a converned looking Captain America.

"I'm a bit hungry. Want to get something to eat?"

The relief at Peter willingly coming out of his room was clearly visible in the mans' entire posture and the smile he couldn't stop appearing. Steve put a hand on Peter's shoulder as they made turned away rom Peter's room to head to the kitchen.

"Sure, let's eat."

* * *

Peter stared at the city below him bustling with life. The wind swept gently through his exposed hair as Peter checked his webshooters once more. His suit had been completely fixed by Tony for whihc Peter was grateful. He hadn't even been aware his suit had been damaged, though neither had he been aware of his own injuries during the entire mess. Despite his determination to get back out there, Peter was nervous. The Avengers had searched around the area and kept a look out, but there had been no sign of Venom since Peter's ringtone had scared it off. Peter had finally told them about the living nightmare he had faced, though not in as much detail as some of them would have preferred. Just the basics. And now he was about to go back out there, not knowing if Venom would return to try and finish the job.

"There you are."

Peter looked behind him, surprised to see Tony walking up to him and even more surprised or rather shocked when he realized his spider-sense hadn't warned him of the man's approach. He knew his spider-sense still worked so it made him wonder, briefly, why it hadn't warned him off Tony's stealthy approach.

"You alright there, kid?"

"Oh yeah, fine."

Peter decided to let it go for now. More important things to worry about. Tony wore a look that clearly said he kenw he was lying but would let it go, for now. Instead of saying something, he handed Peter something. Confused Peter stared down at the two new objects in his hands. One of them he recognised, but had never used himself. A comm unit to put in his ear so he could cimmunicate directly and instantly with the rest of the team. Though he was part of the Avengers now, he was still underaged and SHIELD refused to let him come on any big missions so Peter didn't need all this gear yet. The other thing almost looked like a watch or wristband but clearly wasn't.

"The comm is something we all agreed on. You may not go on the big missions with us, but if anything happens out there and you need help or backup, all it takes is to tune into our frequency and we'll hear you. No messing around trying to call us with that damn phone of yours."

Tony grabbed back the other item, showing the button on its side. "This is something I made for you. I call it a Panic button. Just one push on this and we all will know you are in dire need of assistance. Of course you're not meant to use it lightly but you better  _use_ it when you need to, understood?"

Peter nodded as he took it back strapping it a little behind his webshooter on his left arm. He tested whether it would hamper his webshooting, stretching his arms and hands into the familiar poses of him activating them, but it didn't get in the way. 

"Thank you, Tony. All of you, actually."

"Put in the comm."

Confused at the almost command, Peter did as he said and was immediately swamped with shouts of "good luck" and "we've got your back, kid" from the rest of the team. All of them had their comms in and Peter knew they would keep them in all day if that's how long Peter stayed out. It meant more than any words could convey that they would stay prepared to help him.

"With this you can always reach us whenever you need to and don't worry, we won't be eavesdropping on you. We'll be alerted when you tune into our team frequency so we know to listen then. Now go save some people, kid."

Feeling a lot more confident with the antire team watching his back, Peter donned his mask with a smile, turned around to face his beautiful city and promptly jumped off the tower. Tony watched him swing away, a brightly colored spider once more.

 

_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> My apologies if anyone felt Peter was panicking too much. I only intended that first one where they found him but Peter insisted on panicking some more and maybe his reaction was too severe for a Venom attack, but in my opinion Venom is one creepy enemy and Peter is still just a teenager, not to mention he was all alone when he was attacked. I don't really know if it fits or not, this is just where the story flowed towards. Every time I went to add another scene it just took over and wrote itself until I ended up with this monstrous one-shot. 
> 
> I hope it was a good read anyway. Thanks for reading and please leave a comment.


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